


Philia

by Azure_Lynx



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Aromantic Character, Aromantic!Edrisa, Character Study, Drabble, Gen, friendship fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:47:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24417610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azure_Lynx/pseuds/Azure_Lynx
Summary: People mistake a lot of things for romance these days.
Relationships: Malcolm Bright & Edrisa Tanaka
Comments: 2
Kudos: 36





	Philia

Doctor Edrisa Tanaka was not in love with Malcolm Bright.

It’d sound like a denial to anyone in the precinct, but it was true. She wasn’t in love with him. She just thought he was really, really cool, and he fascinated her, and she wanted to spend a lot of time with him. 

Like a best friend. But like...even more than a best friend. Like a boyfriend without the whole “romantic love and kissing and stuff.”

Doctor Edrisa Tanaka had never been in love at all. She danced around this fact, never admitting it to her coworkers, knowing it would only add to the reputation she had acquired around the precinct, but it was true. Not because she was cold, or broken, but simply because she was aromantic, and there wasn’t a damn thing wrong with that. 

Corpses were easier to be around than people, she reflected, slicing carefully into the chest cavity of a previously-thirty-year-old man. Corpses didn’t judge, and they were always open and honest. 

Kind of like Malcolm, though she supposed it was morbid to compare him to a dead body. Definitely not romantic, though, running directly antithetical to her coworkers’ gossip.

“Knock knock.” As if summoned by her thoughts, the man sauntered into her workspace. “Taking a late night, Doctor?”

“There’s examinations to run,” she replied. “Can’t leave until I’m done with this gentleman.” Not that he was really going anywhere, but still.

“You busy after?” Malcolm asked.

She peered at him over the tops of her glasses, her stupid traitor heart doing flipflops in her chest. She was normally very rational, but she’d always had a hard time making friends. The concept of someone actively desiring her presence was...truly unbelievable. 

“Yes. Yes. For sure. For what?” she asked, briefly wondering why she used twice as many words as necessary whenever he was around.

“Have you eaten?” he asked.

On cue, her stomach rumbled. “I have not,” she admitted sheepishly. 

Malcolm laughed. “You know, it’s always people reminding me to take care of myself.” He grinned. “Nice for it to be the other way around for a change. Let’s do dinner, then.”

Dinner. With Malcolm. Her careful fingers tripped over the next steps of the autopsy. 

But she had to ask. “Like...a date?” Apprehension filled her. 

“Not necessarily. Not unless you want it to be.”

It was easier to watch the corpse. “I don’t - just dinner is fine.” She bit her lip. “It’s nothing - you’re really amazing, I just -”

“Edrisa, you don’t owe me any explanation.” She risked a quick backward glance to catch his warm, understanding smile. 

If she ever was going to fall in love, it would be with this man. But she wasn’t, and that was okay, too.

**Author's Note:**

> So this has been sitting around in my file and I thought of it and I was like "Hm I should finish it!" But I looked at it and even though it's short, it feels very complete in itself. This idea struck me earlier in the season because I love any configuration of Edrisa and Malcolm together and I wanted to think about how it might look to outsiders versus what it meant to her.   
> Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
